The concept of ‘region’: Theoretical and methodological notes on its reconstruction

Abstract:

The vast array of entities commonly labelled 'regions' actually encompasses a wide range of quite different phenomena. We tend to call the Baltic Sea a region as we do the Near East, Lombardy, North Rhine-Westphalia, the Baranya and the Öresund. We further refer on frequent occasions to administrative regions, economic regions, labour regions and statistical regions. This proliferation of uses begs a central question: Do common parameters and methods exist for analysing these different phenomena? This article tackles the challenge of (re)constructing a definition of region, which is a prerequisite for subsequent empirical research and practical application. Failing to find in extant academic approaches an acceptable transdisciplinary definition of region, the article offers a spatial definition of region and derives from it the core elements of a regional system. Based on these elements a typology of the regional phenomenon (subnational, transnational and international) is developed, which can be useful for policy research, especially the regional dimension within the process of European integration.